Apparatus for building tires



Aug. 29, 1961 P. E. APPLEBY 2, 53

APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Feb. 25, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1ATTORNEY Aug. 29, 1961 P. E. APPLEBY' APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1958 INVENTOR. PAUL E. APPLEBY A TT ORNEYAug. 29, 1961 P. E. APPLEBY APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES 5 Sheets-Sheet5 Filed Feb. 25, 1958 INVENTOR. PAUL E. APPLEBY ATTORNEY 2,998,053APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Paul E. Appleby, Akron, Ohio, assignor toThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, at corporation of OhioFiled Feb. 25, 1958, Ser. No. 717,526 7 Claims. (Cl. 154-9) Thisinvention relates to a method and apparatus for building pneumatic tiresand the like on a crown type drum in which the fabric is first wrappedabout the cylindrical surface of the drum to form a sleeve or ispreformed and then sl-id in place thereover. The marginal edges of thesleeve must then be gathered radially inwardly over the shoulder or endof the drum before bead rings can be applied.

' The principal object of this invention is to provide an apparatus ofsimplified construction and operation for turning the marginal edges offine material about the shoulders or crown portions of drums of thecharacter described above and simultaneously and automatically formpleats or corrugations in the said marginal edges of the fabric. Otherobjects of the invention will appear hereinafter as the description ofthe invention proceeds, the novel features, arrangements andcombinations being clearly pointed out in the specification and in theappended claims.

' In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational View partly in section, showing in more orless schematic manner an apparatus for building tires according to thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is an end view showing the apparatus of this invention inoperative position and illustrating the configuration of the pleatsformed thereby;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view with parts broken away showing theapparatus of this invention in operative position;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the ply turn-down tool of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the tool shown in FIG. 4;

' FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are cross sectional views taken respectivelyalong the lines 66 through 9-9 of FIG. 4. 5 A conventional crown drum 1having the end faces 2 inwardly offset is clearly shown in FIG. 1. It isagainst these faces that the sleeve-like ends 3 of the fabric band 4-must be compressed and held in that position so as to conform with theend faces '2. A shaft 5 rotatably supports the drum l in anyconventional manner, not shown; the shaft 5 may also supportbead-supporting rings 6 slidably mounted thereon and normally moved toan inoperative position away from the drum until they are ready for use.p 7 V,

The ply turn-down tools, generally referred to by numerals 7 and 7a, arepivotably supported on brackets 3 and 8a which are secured respectivelyto the arms 9 and 9a. The arms 9 and 9a in turn are secured to the shaft10 which is pivotably supported on a bracket 11 secured to a supportingframe 12 mounted on the tire machine housing 13. The ply turn-down tools7 and 7a and the appending structure are of identical constructure sothat reference to the structure of either tool )1 its appendages appliesalso to the other.

Each of the arms 9 are splined to the shaft 10 so that hey may be fixedin various axial positions along the shaft 10 by means of a set screw orthe like to accomnodate drums of various lengths. The shaft 10 has astub arm 14 extending therefrom pivotably secured to the rod 15 of thepneumatic actuating cylinder 16 which Is pivotably mounted at 17 to thebracket 11. As clearly shown in FIG. 2 actuation of the cylinder 16causes shaft [0 to rotate and the arms 9 to pivot about the axis of theshaft 10 whereby the arms 9 and the appending turndown tools 7 are movedfrom the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in solidlines in FIG. 2.

Since the ply turn-down tool 7 extends axially inwardly beyond theaxially outermost portion of the end of the drum 1, the ply turn-downtool 7 is pivotably mounted with respect to the bracket 8. The plyturn-down tool 7 is provided with an integrally formed lug 18 having ahinge portion 19 supported between the hinge ears 20 on the bracket 8and pivoted about the hinge pin 21 which is normal to the axis and theradius of the drum 1. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the lug 18 is providedwith a stub pin 22 to which is secured a rod 23 and actuating cylinder24 pivotably mounted at 25 to the bracket 8. Actuation of the cylinder24 moves the lug 18 and the ply turn-down tool 7 about the axis of thepin 21 from the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown inthe solid lines in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 4 through 9; the ply turn-down tool 7 includes anelongated arcuate shaped surface 26 which is parallel to the radiallyouter surface of the drum 1 and extends circumferentially thereof forapproximately or one quadrant of the drum. A skirt 27 projectstransversely from one edge of the surface 26 from the leading edge 28 tothe trailing'edge 29 thereof and the transverse extent of the skirtincreases in proportion to the distance from the leading edge 28.Furthermore, as clearly shown in FIGS. 6 through 9, the skirt 27gradually and uniformly conforms to the contour of the shoulder or crownportion 30 of the building drum 1 so that at the trailing edge 29 of thetool 7 the cross section of the skirt substantially conforms to the saidcrown30.

As shown in FIG. 4, the trailing edge 29 of the tool 7 is provided witha longitudinal slot 3 1 through which a stitching wheel 32 extends tocontact the marginal edge of the turned down fabric as shown in FIG. 2.'The wheel 32 is rotatably supported on an arm 33 pivoted at 34 andurged inwardly into contact with the ply material by means of a spring35 compressedbetween the lug 18 and the arm 33 so as to force themarginal edge 3 of the ply material against the end faces 2 of the drum.1 With the arms 9 in retracted position as shown in the dotted lines inFIG. 2, the operator places or forms a fabric band 4 on the drum 1 sothat the marginal edges 3 extend beyond the shoulders or crown-30 ofthedrum 1 as shown in FIG. 1. With the ply material in theabove-described position, the pneumatic cylinders 16 and 24 are actuatedwhich cause the arms 9 to pivot about the axis of the shaft 10 and thebracket 18 to pivot about the axis of pin 21 to bring the tool 7 intoengagement with the crown of the drum v1. The concave side of surface 26of the tool is in contact with the ply material overlaying the radiallyouter periphery of the drum 1 and the skirt 27 extends axially inwardlyaround the crown 30 of the drum 1. During this pivotal movement on thetool 7, the skirt27 engages the overhanging marginal edge 3 of thefabric and turns a portion thereof radially inwardly around the crown ofthe drum as shown inFIG.2.

The operator then actuates the drive motor, not shown, to rotate thedrum 1 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 2 for one revolution.As the drum 1 revolves, the overhanging marginal edges 3 of the fabricare uniformly fed into the leading edge 28 of the tool and eachincrement thereof passes from the leading edge 28 of the tool 7 to thetrailing edge 29 thereof during which each increment is turned radiallyinwardly around the crown 30 of the drum 1 and stitched thereto by thewheel 32.

Furthermore, since the overhanging edges 3 are gradually and uniformlyturned radially inwardly and around the crown 30 of the drum, theportion 36 thereof, which extends beyond the end faces 2 of the drum,are formed Patented Aug. 29, 1961" corrugations 37 thereby forming asinuous, generally frusto-conical formation having its axis at the axisof the drum and with the ribs extending toward the central portion ofthe drum. 7

After the pleating is completed, the bead carrying ring 6 is slid alongthe shaft until it is in a position to place the bead 38 against thefabric overlaying the inner free edge 2 of the drum 1. An ordinary fiatfaced stitcher wheel, not shown, may then be used to turn the fabricaround the head 38 in a radially outward direction While the drum isrotated rapidly and thus flatten out the flutes or corrugations 37 andto stitch the fabric firmly in place against the carcass in a mannerwell understood in the art. The carcass is now ready for the applicationof other elements thereto, such as additional bands, a breaker, chaferstrip and the tire tread, but the application of these additionalelements does not form any part of the present invention. By using theapparatus of this invention, the time necessary in building large sizedtires is greatly reduced because of the elimination of a great amount ofhand work in forming the flutes and corrugations. In addition, animproved tire results from the use of this process because the beads areless bulky and more uniform.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown forthe purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim: 7 r 1. In a tire building machine in which a tire building drumis employed for building a tire with the material initially arranged onthe surface of a rotatable drum with marginal edges of a sleeve-likeportion of the material projecting from at least one end of said drum,the improvement which comprises the combination with said drum of a plyturn-down tool pivotably mounted adjacent said end of said drum' havinga' longitudinal arcuate surface parallelto a quadrant of the radiallyouter surface of said drum the concave side of said surface contactingsaid material, and a skirt portion extending from a longitudinal edge ofsaid arcuate surface which skirt gradually and uniformly conforms to thearcuate configuration of the shoulder of said drum from the leading endto the trailing end of said arcuate surface whereby the projectingportion of the material is gradually moved into engagement with theshoulder of the drum and the marginal edge portion is formed intouniformly spaced and contoured corrugations during one revolution ofsaid drum.. 7

2. A tire building machine as set forth in claim '1 in which a stitchingwheel is mounted at the trailing end of said tool with the axis thereofnormal to the surface of said drum, said stitching wheel being adaptedto contact said drum radially inwardly of the outer surface thereof. 7 jV 3. A tire building machine as claimed in. claim 1 in which thetrailingend of, said tool conforms in cross section to the crosssectional contour of said drum and extends axially inwardly of theaxially outermost portion of said drum. i

4. A tire building machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the trailingend of said skirt is slotted longitudinally thereof and said stitchingwheel is rotatably secured to said tool and rotates in a planecoincident with said slot.

5. In a tire building machine in which a tire building drum is employedfor building a tire with the material initially arranged on the surfaceof arotatable drum with the marginal edges of a sleeve-like portion ofthe material projecting from the ends of said drum, the improvementwhich comprises the combination with said drum of a pair of ply turndowntools each having an arcuate surface parallel to the radially outersurface of said drum adjacent each end of the drum the concave side ofsaid surface engagingsaid material, and a skirt portion extending fromsaid arcuate surface transversely thereof which skirt portion graduallyand uniformly conforms to the arcuate configuration of the shoulder ofsaid drum from the leading end to the trailing end of said arcuatesurface, and means for moving said turndown'tools from a positionradially outwardly of the projecting portion of said material intocontact with said drum shoulder whereby the projecting portion of thematerial is gradually moved into engagement with the shoulder of thedrum and the marginal edge portion is formed into uniformly spaced andcontoured corrugae t-ions during one revolution of said drum. 6. A tirebuilding machine as claimed in claim 5 in which means are provided forsimultaneously moving the tools from a radially outward position intocontact with the crown of said drum.

7. In a tire building machine in which a rotatable tire building drum isemployed for building a tire with a the material initially arranged onthe surface of a drum with the marginal edges of a sleeve-like portionof the material projecting from the ends of said drum, the improvementwhich comprises the combination with said drum of a ply turndown tool,means for rotating the drum, means for moving said tool from a positionradially outward of the projecting portion of the materialinto contactwith the end portion of said drum, said ply turndown tool having anarcuate surface parallel to a quadrant of the radially outer surface ofsaid drum the concave side of said surface engaging said material, and'askirt portion extending from said surface which skirt portion graduallyand uniformly conforms to the arcuate configuration of the end of saiddrum from the leading end to the trailing end of said arcuate surface;and means for moving said tool into contact with the end portions of thedrum prior to rotation of said drum whereby the projecting portion ofthe material is gradually moved into engagement with the shoulder of thedrum and the marginal edge portion is formed into uniformly spaced andcontoured'corrugationsduring one revolution of said drum. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

